Who burns away their life
by Ryfenne
Summary: This is a relatively long fic(20pgs) actually, the first I've ever done. It's based upon Gundam Wing with a few added characters all of which are copyright me, steal and die.


  
  
---Who Burns Away Their Life---  
  
The year is after colony 199, four years after the wars that had devastated the Earth and the colonies, and three years after the scare of another tyrannical ruler, Marimaia. The five gundam pilots who saved our world from these unfortunate destinies, are catching up on some much-awaited living, some more than others perhaps.  
  
"Mr. Winner, you're going to have to raise your prices for natural resources, you're practically giving it away, it's not the budget the company approved." Quatre frowned, "I'd much rather take money from myself than the pockets of the colony, " he argued, "This company has been running on that budget since my father owned it, we shouldn't be having trouble now," he persisted. "Mr. Winner, if you don't raise your prices you'll have to raise money for salaries, without raising that money cuts will be made. If that isn't taking money away from the people then I don't understand your definition of robbery, " the advisor scowled, "Good day sir!" Quatre peered downward at the graphs of his company's progression as the advisor stormed out. "Ugh," he said, lifting the phone, "I need to get out of here." As he began to dial, he heard his secretary on the intercom. "Mr. Winner, someone here to see you, he says it's urgent." Quatre hung up the phone, pressing the intercom button he said, " Well, if it's urgent you may as well send him in." He stood as the door opened, only to see a face that was all too familiar, four years ago. "Heero?," he muttered with near amazement, "Why are you here?" Heero walked forward and Quatre saw again the unblinking eyes of the most feared of the gundam pilots. "They're back," he said plainly. "What's back, Heero?" Heero glanced at the floor, " Zero, Deathscythe, Heavyarms, The Shenlong, and even your Sandrock, Quatre. They are all accounted for, except one a new model, based on the Epyon and Zero systems, but this one's different, it makes you hallucinate not your enemy, but your most hated foe, and your worst fears. The adrenaline in the pilot's bloodstream improves the performance, and the hatred that drives him makes him invulnerable. That's why the people have started calling it Hellfire Gundam." Quatre stared blankly at him for what seemed an infinity. "Have you told the others?" Heero looked up, " All except for Trowa, nobody seems to know where he's disappeared to." Quatre nearly laughed at this, "Well that's easy enough to find out. He's on this very colony in fact." Heero's expressionless face turned to Quatre, "We should go now."  
The solemn couple moved across the grassy lawn that led to the cheery circus tent that had traveled throughout the colonies. There they hoped to find Trowa. Sure enough, there he was, cutting quite a comical with his make-up still not washed off from his last performance. He was carefree in the world of the circus, even smiling to himself as he completed his rounds at feeding the animals. With an upward glance he realized his solitude had ended as he saw Quatre and Heero's approach. In just the second Catherine had joined him, seeing where his view was directed she sternly sidled him and said, "Whatever you're thinking my answer is no. Those two have come to start trouble again, I can feel it in my bones. My intuition demands you go inside, now, Trowa." By the time her words had escaped, Heero and Quatre were nearly beside them. Heero even heard a murmur from Quatre, "She's sure got him pure whipped." He would have smiled at such a remark had he not been so troubled by the day's happenings. Trowa seemed to ignore Catherine and placidly looking back at her said, " Would you excuse us, please?" "Fine!", she said storming off, stopping only to whack Trowa on the back of the head as she went. This drew a laugh from Heero as well as Quatre. The humor was short-lived. Trowa's expression was of worry and depression either of the peace status or baring in mind how he was supposed to tell Catherine he'd be leaving for war, I'll never know. " Heavyarms is restored? How? I thought the plans were destroyed with the gundams all the creators are dead aswell, so how could they possibly figure out how to rebuild them?" Heero shook his head, "Apparently, one of those scientists had an apprentice, or some such, some way, that person must have that information." Quatre spoke up, "Actually Heero, what's the threat of these Gundams existing? We just need to destroy this apprentice person, and find this new gundam from Hellfire and destroy these new gundams." Heero glanced at Quatre, "Do you remember Dorothy Catalonia? She loved war, and I do believe she gave you a bit of a wound the last time you two crossed paths. That however, is another topic. Since the wars, seven new colonies have been added. Dorothy stands for the NORITOS, the New Order of Rebels In The Outer Space. They're waging war on the Earth for taxation without representation. She means business Quatre." Trowa smirked, " Does Dorothy pilot this Gundam Hellfire?" Heero looked back to Trowa, "Good question, the answer will present itself in time, I guess. If it's Dorothy we should have no trouble with it. " Quatre gave the two a quick glance, " We haven't time to waste, Heero, you told me NORITOS was planning to declare war on the Earth and space colonies, and that they're mounting an attack on some nearby resource satellites." Trowa stood, "Then let's go, now." Quatre paused, "Aren't you going to tell Catherine?" Trowa laughed, "Why should I? She heard the whole thing already!" There was the sound of quiet cursing and a shuffling behind one of the trunks, it was Catherine, "Trowa, wipe that smile off your face. How'd you know I was there?" Trowa stifled a laugh, "How could I not notice, you do that every single time, at least pick another trunk to hide behind once in awhile." She stormed off and the three parted from the cheery sight of the circus, as they headed off to meet their fates with the machines that had ruled their lives for so long.   
  
They arrived at a remote former colony to meet Duo and Wufei who had arrived earlier, and to their surprise they found Milliardo Peacecraft was also on the colony. Apparently, so was the Talgeese. "So, you three have finally arrived, sure took you long enough. Wait--wait lemme guess, it was Catherine. That battle ax could delay anything." As soon as Duo uttered those words he had regretted them as Trowa's fist was now hurtling toward Duo's head, and landing him a smart blow on the right eye. "Yowch! 'Tis true though, I wasn't gonna say it earlier but outright she's a bitch!" Trowa grabbed Duo's collar bracing for another punch, " You must have your braid too tight or something has shrouded your brain with utter stupidity. You never were the brightest bulb of the bunch." Putting Duo down he stormed off, "Was it something I said?" Wufei nearly smiled, " He's right you know, the longer your hair gets the stupider you become." Duo yanked on Wufei's stubby pigtail, "I should say the same to you, bucko!" While Duo and Wufei continued in their argument, Quatre tapped Heero upon the shoulder, "Where's my Sandrock?" Heero turned, " Your Sandrock is near the loading area, on the right, it won't be hard to miss. " Quatre proceeded to take Heero's directions when he turned, "Heero, he has the same system, right?" Heero turned again nodding, "Do you want me to come with you?" Quatre smiled, "No, me and Sandrock have some catching up to do."  
Quatre ventured through the corridors of the old colony. Approaching the loading area he spotted the holding area of the Gundams. There they were, the seven gundams of the new ages. Quatre stood in awe, almost not trusting his eyes as they played over the figures of the four mobile suits. He turned at the sound of a voice behind him, "Beautiful, aren't they?", the voice said. Quatre turned, obviously taken off guard by the stranger. His glance met the face of the man that was called the Lightning Count, Zechs Marquise, Milliardo Peacecraft, he was everyone, no one, and all in between. Thoughts raced through Quatre's head finally, planning his reply, he merely muttered, "Zechs?" The Lightning Count approached, " I have many names, call me what you wish, what's a name anyway?" Quatre took a step back, though not afraid it's safe to say that Quatre was cautious in this. He was the unknown gundam pilot. He hadn't been held by Oz as the others, surely there were no records of him even existing as a gundam, Zechs must have guessed. Zechs kept his position, looking down at Quatre he said placidly, "Pilot of the gundam Sandrock, I presume." Quatre stood his ground, " That is correct. You may not know me like the other pilots, but you and I have clashed once or twice, sir." Zechs looked up at the modified Sandrock and then to Quatre, "I remember you as the pilot who introduced Zero, what is your name, pilot?" "I am Quatre Raberba Winner I'm as you said, pilot of Sandrock and briefly of Zero." The Lightning Count smiled, "It was nice to meet you, Quatre. You obviously love your Sandrock, I'll leave you alone now." As Zechs began striding out of the room Quatre walked over to his gundam, with tears in his eyes," I missed you, old friend." Zechs turned before leaving to see a pilot who had such a longing to be with his machine he called to Quatre, "Quatre, why do you love your Sandrock so?" Quatre smiled at the Lightning Count, " Being a gundam pilot gives me an obligation the colonies, Earth, myself, and to Sandrock just as Sandrock shares these responsibilities. We help each other. Sandrock saved my life, Zechs. For that my Sandrock shall be gratified. " The Lightning Count acknowledged this as he left Gundam and pilot to themselves, he would think of much this night.   
  
"Heero, where's Quatre?", Trowa inquired, "He's been gone for hours." Heero glanced toward Trowa, " I think he went to see Sandrock. It's down by the loading dock to the right, it's hard to miss." Trowa traveled through the empty halls to the loading area. There was Quatre who had obviously at some point fallen asleep next to his gundam. Trowa smiled, almost not wanting to waked him. However, Trowa waking him now would be a lot better than the rude awakening he'd get the next day by the staff. He walked quietly toward the sleeping Quatre, hearing something behind him he turned slowly. "I'm glad you came Trowa Barton, I'm happy I didn't have to wake him myself." Trowa looked around, "Who's there?" The tall form of Zechs materialized out of the shadows. "Heero told me you'd be here." Zechs practically pranced over to Trowa, " Is that so?" The Lightning Count glanced toward Quatre, who sat asleep at the feet of his gundam feet away from their position. "Mr. Winner certainly is an odd fellow. I've never seen anyone so in sync with their machines." Trowa averted his glance to the cold eyes of the Lightning Count, "Quatre is the most humane of the pilots. He has a great heart. Besides, he needed a break from the office, poor guy." This drew a chuckle from Zechs, "Boys shouldn't be in offices at this age. Then again, you shouldn't be in gundams either." With that, Zechs exited the room, and so Trowa proceeded to wake Quatre, who apparently didn't want to be woken. "What's the big idea? I was having a good dream too." Trowa mused, " What was it about?" Whacking Trowa he replied, " Well, now that you've woken me how the Hell'm I supposed to know?!" From down the hall they could hear Duo and Wufei's discussion "Well, I'm just saying you shouldn't be so damn grumpy!" Wufei raised his voice, "Will you shut up?!!!" They chuckled and retired soon to their quaters for a sleep, for peace would be short-lived.  
  
Hellfire they called it, Satan's gundam. Her pilot had to be ruthless and focused upon their mission; to destroy. One pilot of the many trainees was chosen, it had met the criteria for their experiments and overall made the best pilot physically, and mentally. These trainees were in such quantities that they no longer went by names, but by serial numbers, the pilot for Hellfire was 1402. Easy to manipulate, 1402 was the ideal weapon of the NORITOS.   
  
The next day the gundams arose to a rude awakening. Hellfire was sighted on it's way to attack a resource satellite to one of the main colonies. They pilots rushed to their mobile suits ready for anything, some possibly more than others. "Hey, what's the big idea? Sending the warriors t'battle with no proper feeding? How terribly rude!", Duo whined as he boarded Deathscythe. Heero growled, "No fuss, pilots, vacation's over, suit up!" Trowa heard Quatre remark to no one in particular, "Well old friend, it's back to the old days."  
Even Zechs climbed into the Talgeese with the other gundams, the pilots had sure been shaken by this, and they wondered if Zechs would be a burden or a blessing.   
The Gundams were launched, they moved full speed to the colony. They fought off the myriad of lifeless mobile dolls, scanning the area for their great enemy, Hellfire. There it was, the Hellfire. The black, silver, and blood red form loomed closer to the gundam team. It's right hand held the heat rod weapon the Epyon had possessed, and the twin buster rifles of the Zero suit. At first the suit moved slowly, as if aimed at no one at all, but suddenly in a lightning movement darting straight for the Heavyarms. Trowa evaded the blow easily going under the whip of the suit. Backing up Trowa shot off his rockets at the enemy suit, a mere two were driven home. The two suits raged as the Hellfire started slowly to win domination. Seeing the trouble spot, immediately, the draw back of the heat rod's hand, he sped into action, holding a shield to the weapon's strike and drawing his own weapons. Moving rapidly backward to evade the shots threatening to crush him. He fired rounds upon rounds of bullets at his foe, but few hit the suit at all. The reaction time of this pilot was amazing, he was sure if the battle kept up like this he wouldn't survive. Heero and Duo fought the Hellfire at once, but it was to no avail. The mobile dolls seemed to come for an eternity, and the Hellfire wasn't ready to give up. This gundam had power, this was proven very true when Deathscythe's double beam scythe was snapped in half! The Nataku Gundam now joined the fight against Hellfire, while Quatre, Trowa, and Zechs fought off the mobile dolls while Duo made a retreat. The dolls weren't thinning, and the gundams were going to run out of ammunition within minutes. "Heero, it's Quatre, we can't handle this much longer, the others are fatigued, and we're running out of ammo, let's retreat Heero, we won't accomplish anything." Soon after he had radioed Heero, he agreed a retreat was ideal. He realized he had to wound this Hellfire in a major way, if not destroy it, to escape. He didn't need it, 1402 wouldn't last much longer on the Hellfire's system. Heero found the Hellfire was slowing down, and signaled the others to retreat without him. Hellfire was forcing it's pilot to near insanity. The hallucinations started taking greater effect. After a moment's pause the Hellfire sped off. Heero had guessed what had happened to Hellfire, but he didn't have time to ponder it now, instead he withdrew and headed back to the base.  
  
Quatre panted as he moved toward Heero, "What happened?" Heero paused, "I'm not totally sure but I think that the Hellfire's pilot hasn't mastered it's system. He started slowing down, and then fled. Much like Zero, but worse. " Quatre peered up with curiosity, "This suit uses a system like Zero's but more complicated, but, since the pilot hasn't mastered the system, we still have a chance at beating them, right?"  
  
Heero was busy. He needed to find that mobile suit to destroy it before it's pilot mastered the system. He had received a message from an anonymous caller in regards to an upgrade in the system for the Zero suit. This would make Zero like Hellfire, but, could he master the system in time ? Or could it endanger the results in battle? He walked out of his quarters and headed for Zero, this upgrade was worth a shot. He climbed into the cockpit and began downloading the new system. The task was completed, now to run the simulations. activating the new system he went through the simulation. For quite awhile nothing seemed to change, this made him quite angry in the thought of wasting valuable time. What was this? At the sign of the anger he began to hallucinate, he saw Trieze, Zechs, and Duke Durmail. He saw Oz, The Alliance, Romefellar. He began to pant as his emotion arose, he didn't even realize his actions as they happened, but every simulated enemy on the screen was wiped out in no time at all. His reaction time had almost doubled with this system. He felt powerful, angry, he felt like two sides were pulling him apart as he saw flashes of the dead and dying victims of war. This was too much! It was Zero all over again. Breathing heavily, her stopped the simulation, opening the hatch he rushed out of the cockpit, wet with perspiration, he sat on the floor, fighting to get his breath back. In an instant he stood, hearing someone's approach, trying desperately to get his breath under control for he knew who this unwanted visitor was. "Heero Yuy, it's been awhile." After a few moments of silence he started again, "Do you not remember me, Heero?" Heero panted as he replied, practically growling, "I remember you Zechs." Zechs smiled it was not false, but it wasn't one of kindness, "What have you been doing here, you're obviously doing something very difficult, I haven't seen you like that since Epyon." Heero peered at Zechs, "In a way you'd be exactly correct, Zero has been upgraded to the Hellfire's system, what I wasn't expecting was the great stress dealing with it amounted to." Zechs gave Heero a glance of curiosity, "Upgraded? I want to see this." Heero sniggered, "You can look at the results of the simulation. I won't give you upgrade until I've mastered it fully, Zechs. This isn't arrogance, either this is safety." Zechs smirked, "According to the results your reaction time was doubled, your kill rate average also seems to have gone up, until right here, is this where you aborted?" Heero, still a bit exhausted, nodded. "As soon as you've mastered Hellfire's system let me know, Heero. While you were in your suit some information came in, apparently, Hellfire's gone to Earth. The suit is in Siberia. Brings back old memories, doesn't it, Heero?" With that, he left the room, and soon after so did Heero.   
  
Two Gundam pilots, Quatre and Heero would ascend to earth, while the other three protected the space colonies. This was ideal for the unpredictable situation of the enemy. Within hours the Gundams were prepared for combat on Earth. Soon after they boarded a shuttle that was destined for Siberia.   
The pilots had been on the shuttle for about 2 hours when Quatre came up to Heero, "Is something wrong, Heero?" Heero peered up at the platinum-haired pilot, "No, nothing, why do you ask?" Quatre looked to the floor, "I passed Zechs on the way to Sandrock and he mumbled two words; 'Zero's back'. Ever since that second I've had this feeling something very terrible is going to happen, particularly to you, and that devil gundam." He looked into Quatre's obviously frightened eyes, "Nothing's going to happen Quatre, the gundams will be victorious and maybe we can kill this new Gundam. Maybe even make it an ally."  
Within hours they penetrated Earth's atmosphere and were fast approaching the Siberian base. The gundams would be dropped from the sky miles away, then proceed in their suits to the base. The gundams were in the air, fast approaching the base that was now in plain sight. They were in radar range and they predicted soon the coming of the Hellfire. So it appeared, along with two legions of a new mobile doll model, that proved difficult to beat, even through close range combat.   
While Sandrock drew the fire from Zero, he raced to action, catching the Hellfire off guard with a quick jab of the beam sword. The Hellfire stumbled then held, quickly retaliating with a double butterfly sweep. It seemed to get faster and faster. As much as Heero needed system Hellfire, he held with Zero. The Hellfire had improved since the last battle and was pushing Heero back rapidly toward a deep ravine. He knew loss would be immanent if this was kept up, he initiated system Hellfire. He immediately showed difference in fighting ability. The other pilot was taken by surprise at Zero's sudden activity. Zero shot past Hellfire like a bullet, appearing behind Hellfire. He pulled back his sword and jabbed it into the back of the mobile suit rendering it's right thrusters useless. The Hellfire turned around quick enough to take off any terrible damage that could've killed the pilot. Heero quickly drove the Hellfire backward toward the ravine, to realize the other gundam was slowing down, to realize he was starting to hallucinate.. He kept going.. driving his opponent back. He wouldn't give in to the system until the other gundam was pinned.. or dead. He battled on while he got a transmission form Quatre, "Heero, where are you? Heero? Come in please, Heero. Are you all right?!" He had no time to answer, he was beginning to hallucinate, apparently, so was Hellfire. With a final thrust he pushed the Hellfire into the ravine. It made an effort to use it's thrusters and fired off a useless blast from it's buster rifles before tumbling to the ravine floor. Heero fell with the Hellfire to the revine floor. Quatre was still calling as he opened the hatch and tumbled out of his gundam, clutching his gun as he crawled to the lifeless form of Hellfire. The hatch opened, he could see, but where was the pilot? His eyes scanned the area only to see a small figure lying at the base of the mobile suit Hellfire. He cautiously moved toward the still figure panting heavily and wet with perspiration. He neared the figure to find what looked like a young boy who hadn't moved since he had fallen from his gundam. The boy breathed heavily and shook, obviously on the brink of consciousness Heero pointed his gun to the boy's head."Name and rank." He said ruthlessly. The boy's gun had fallen a few feet away, Heero must have seen his eyes flicker over to the object, the boy's hand flew to the weapon, only to be stopped when Heero's foot pinned it down juat inches away. Heero grabbed the weapon, casting it behind him, "Let's not have any of that, shall we?" The boy's face was a mixture of pain and rage, he freed his hand with moderate making an attempt to stand got him nowhere either. Heero reached down and turned him on his back where one of the boy's hands covered a deep gash in his side. Theboy shook and grimaced as Heero removed his hand from the wound. "Name and rank, now." Heero said. The boy cried out as Heero hit the wound lightly but otherwise remained silent. "If you'd cooperate this would be a lot less painful." Heero said with some cruelty in his voice. Heero hit the wound again, harder this time, and the boy passed out. Heero checked his vital signs, his heart was fast and weak, his breath was imbalanced and deep. Heero dropped his weapon lifting the boy onto his back, mindful of the wound, then made his way to Zero. Heero climbed to the cockpit, to find Quatre cursing on the radio and demanding a response. "Quatre, calm down, you ok out there?", said Heero. "Heero? Oh, you're all right, I was worried. Have you destroyed Hellfire?" Heero smirked, "Sort of. Her pilot is wounded and unconscious to the left of me. Zero and Hellfire fell into a ravine to the south of you, we'll need help getting out."   
Within minutes Quatre had arrived, along with an air unit. Heero and the boy were taken by air to the conquered base while Zero and the Hellfire were hauled out of the ravine.   
The boy was taken to the sickbay and treated for his wound. Heero and Quatre talked in the hall nearby. "So, who is he?", Quatre remarked. Heero fidgeted while replying, "He refused to tell me, he's got courage and a tolerance for pain. Any normal soldier with that kind of would have passed out the first time I'd hit them."  
Quatre looked through the window into the sickbay, "Just look at him Heero, he's no soldier, he's younger than we were when we started piloting." Heero looked to the floor, "I know. Fighting so young is just burning away your life. Ours are already singed, but we have time to heal, but usually if they start you so young, you'll be brainwashed."  
Heero and Quatre remained at the base in Siberia. The others had been contacted and informed on the recent happenings. The boy was just waking up after 3 days of unconsciousness. The boy opened his eyes, disoriented and somewhat afraid, his hand instinctively flew to his wound, in it's place he found a thick bandage. "What in Hell..", he murmured in panic. He sat up painfully to realize his left hand was cuffed to the bedside. The boy glanced to his side to find two youths, one was the one who had taken him, the other he didn't know. "Well, now. It's about time you got up." Heero remarked. "Name and rank," Heero commanded then realized something, a marking of some sort on the boy's neck, perhaps some type of serial number? He stood, the boy noticed the location of his glare, he threw the blankets and leaped out of the bed, though with his hand being tied to the bed restricted his movements, he was able to fend off Heero's approach for a good ten minutes before Heero send him sprawling to the floor with a hard kick to the wound. He flinched as Heero reached up to lower the stiff collar of the NORITOS uniform the boy had worn for the last three days to reveal a distinct barcode tatooed to the side of his neck along with a serial number, "Fourteen zero two." he said turning to Quatre, "Take him to the second holding room be careful, though, he's hard to control." Heero tossed Quatre the keys the the retraint on 1402's left hand and walked out of the room. Quatre unlocked the restraints immediately after Heero exited mumbling, "This one's not the only one hard to control." Quatre held out a hand to help 1402 to his feet, the boy refused and stood by himself, quite painfully. "Sorry, but I'm required to put these on you." Quatre dangled heavy wrist cuffs from one hand. 1402 held out both arms as Quatre locked them into place. He walked his prisoner down the hall feeling guilt and hypocracy as he helped his staggering prisoner to the holding cell. He saw him stumble and caught him before he fell. Quatre shook the boy lightly, when he didn't stir he checked his pulse, he was stil alive but very much unconcious. With a sigh he lifted the boy carefully and carried him to the holding place, unlocking the cell with moderate difficulty, he dropped him in the corner and heard the boy mumble something, "Death will visit Dorothy, and I will be the gateway.." The voice was too deep to be real, it had an unnatural sound to it, but he ignored this and walked from the vicinity.   
Quatre reported back to Heero who sat facing a computer screen, "I'm trying to access the soldier database, but the identification number isn't enough for me to access it. I'll need the barcode." Heero said never taking his eyes from the screen. As Quatre took a step out the door Heero looked back, "It's ok, Quatre, I know all this upsets you. We'll give him a few days, then we'll make an attempt at it." Quatre nodded, "I'll go contact the other pilots in space then."  
1402 sat in a small chair in the corner, on the edge of slumber watching the door. Unexpectedly, the door opened, it was the pilot Quatre. Quatre smiled, sitting in a chair opposite of 1402. 1402 looked away, "I'm not answering any of your questions so you may as well go away." Quatre smirked, the voice was unnatural almost metallic, "I haven't come to ask you any questions about Hellfire or NORITOS." 1402 looked downward then shook his head, "Well then, why have you come at all?" Quatre chuckled, "Why haven't I come you mean. You aren't eating, drinking, sleeping. We don't want you to die. You haven't even moved from that chair." 1402 didn't answer. Quatre got up and left, making sure to lock the door behind him.  
"How the hell are we supposed to get the barcode off him?" Quatre murmured.   
Quatre sat beside Heero after his visit to the cell. "I'll do it." Heero said in his usual monotome voice.Quatre looked to the floor, "Good luck, he's almost as hard to approach as you are." Heero retreated from the room and soon found his way to the cell. The boy stood as Heero approached. He smiled and looked away. "This would be a lot easier on both of us if you'd cooperate. My name is Heero Yuy, the other pilot is Quatre Winner." Heero said dryly. The boy smiled wickedly, staring into Heero's eyes, and said in his metallic voice, "Wouldn't it?" He lunged forward and landed a hard punch to Heero's jaw. Heero angrily retalliated with a punch to the pilot's abdomen, he took one hand around the boy's neck and lifted him from the ground. The boy seemed unafraid he gripped Heero's arm for some support as he spoke, "Do your worst pilot, your worst." Heero threw the boy against the wall. The boy winced as Heero lifted his head to scan the code. "Why aren't you dead yet?" Heero grumbled. The boy stated in a voice that faded from metallic to feminine, " I can't die, not until she's dead first." The boy was immediately silent, his hand moved up to his shoulder, as if to see if something was still there. Heero ignored this and moved out.   
Soon enough, Heero input the barcode into the computer. Within minutes he had opened the database, the hard part was searching the files to find what they were looking for. It took hours. There were hundreds of files to look through.   
Quatre had almost fallen asleep when the search had found ;  
TWO SUBJECTS FOUND:  
Soldier ID Number: 1402  
Last Name: CataloniaLast Name: unknown  
First Name: MarieldaineFirst Name: unknown  
Age: 13 Age: 13  
Sex: FemaleSex: Male  
Rank: noneRank: Pilot Trainee  
Status: MissingStatus: Missing in Action  
  
  
The two pilots looked to the screen then to each other, Heero shook his head, "They're one and the same person, Quatre." Quatre stared at the screen, "Female? 1402 is female?, " Quatre said. Heero was also suprised by this, " Catalonia? As in Dorothy Catalonia?" Quatre looked to Heero, "Is it even possible?," he trailed off. Heero looked back to the screen, "I don't know, but we need some answers."  
  
While the two sat about the computer, 1402 was busy. She had communicated with a man loyal to the NORITOS, she would be out in no time at all. When the door was opened, looking around, she proceeded to the Wing Zero. When coming up onto the loading area for the gundams she looked about again. No one except the man was around, while she crept around the corner the man fled for the exit, feeling his duties were done. She moved up to Wing Zero, climbing into it's cockpit. She laughed to herself, "I'll just keep this switched to the Sorrow Guardian, and change the access codes. That fool Heero won't mess with me again."   
The two pilots hurried to the chamber where 1402 was being held. To their surprise it was empty except for a small black item on the floor, a crushed voice synthesizer. Quatre looked to Heero, "You go to the loading area, I'll go seal off the building." The gundam pilots ran to do their appointed chores. Quatre completed his within minutes, shutting off all exits but the loading doors. Heero ran headlong to the loading area where 1402 was just finishing clearing away and replacing the Wing Zero's old access code. She then hopped out, shutting the cockpit she raced to Hellfire, just as Heero thundered down the hall to the loading area with Quatre quick on his tail. They were too late Hell fire was already in the air. Thankfully, however, without any weapons. Heero was first in his gundam, and Quatre soon after. "Quatre," Heero shouted, "Go catch 1402, my access code isn't working, she must have changed it!"  
Quatre needed no second bidding, off he went after the Hellfire. He switched over to the Zero system, in full speed pursuit of the Hellfire. "He shouted to 1402 over the radio, "We know who you are, there's no sense running now, Marieldaine!" 1402 increased to full speed, racing with the Sandrock wasn't an easy task he was nearing her rapidly she screamed back to him, "Stay away from me, Quatre!" He laughed, "I'm afraid I can't do that." He was practically on her tail. In a panic, she desperately made efforts to accelerate, but it was to no avail. The wound in her side had reopened, tears of rage and pain stung her eyes as Sandrock grasped Hellfire's legs and forced it to the ground. Hellfire and Sandrock hit the ground with a painful thud. Hellfire lay motionless on it's side, panting and sobbing she unbuckled the restraints, falling from the seat. Holding her bleeding side she crawled to the self-detonation device. All of a sudden the cockpit opened, it was Quatre, aiming a pistol at her head. She froze, then she grabbed the self-detonation device and quickly hit the switch. after a couple seconds, nothing had happened. "Trying to self-detonate? Sorry, but we made sure to take that out of Hellfire. Now, if you cooperate you might just live." Panting and wet with her own blood she smiled weakly, "You won't shoot, Quatre, you need me for Wing Zero's access code," she sputtered, coughing up blood,"With any luck I'll die right here." Quatre saw she was going no where in her condition, he trotted over to Sandrock, making sure everything was in good order. 1402 crawled out of the cockpit, tumbling to the ground she stood, holding her bleeding side, she limped to the other side of her gundam. By now Quatre was out of Sandrock and moving toward Hellfire, but when he got there he found her gone. Looking around, he saw a few drops of blood and some footprints in the snow leading him to the rear of Hellfire. He saw her on the edge of consciousness, crouched underneath Hellfire's engines, where it was still warm. Dropping his pistol he rushed over, covering her with his coat as she shivered, "Go away!," she shouted, unable to move, her breath coming as pants. "Relax, don't talk." There was no time to wait for Heero. Quatre lifted and carried her to Sandrock, normally it was a suit for one person, but it would have to do. He strapped her in firmly and set the autopilot, he trotted back to the Hellfire, it's systems still worked he signaled Heero, "Marieldaine's in my suit heading for the base, she's injured pretty badly, she may not live, I'll stay here until you have an air unit to get me."   
So far the war had been silent among the Earth, but with the space colonies being heavily guarded by the Gundams the NORITOS had to expand to Earth to meet their demands. Dorothy Catalonia was sly. She had five space colonies and their citizens under her control, now all she had to do was stir up some interest, then start threatening the Earth. Dorothy Catalonia had the will to conquer and rule, to wage war. It's rumored that she had gone crazy, that she was addicted to wars. She was thought to be the equivalent of a terrorist, and her reign had just begun.   
"I will rule the space colonies, and then the Earth will fight, and they will be defeated," Dorothy thought to herself, then said aloud, "Newman, do you think Daine is still alive?" A voice answered, "Not likely madam, she's been gone for two years, many think she joined the trainees squad for the ultra force, but that's nonsense, they only accepted males. Hellfire was the only one of those gundams to succeed and that would be one in over a thousand." Dorothy snickered, "Well, serves her rightfully, that little twit was getting in my way, she may have had the guts to stop me if she was here any longer." The man called Newman nodded, "Perhaps you're right, no time to ponder it, my lady. You must prepare for your meeting with the colony officials." The matter of Marieldaine's unknown whereabouts made her uneasy, as much as she tried to forget it, the thought stuck with her, like a bur in her side. It must be dealt with. "Newman, this may seem rather rash, but, would you put out an execution order for Marieldaine Catalonia?" Newman turned toward Dorothy, "My lady, it's your daughter you'd be issuing a death warrant for, don't you want to think it through?" Dorothy scowled, "I want to be rid of her, don't question me again, Newman!" The servant nodded, "Yes madam, right away."   
  
Days had passed since the incident with Marieldaine's escape attempt. She was led past Heero on her way to check the last extent of Hellfire, because no one had the access code to her gundam's cockpit the staff were locked out. "Wait there, before she opens Hellfire, Marieldaine has to open Wing Zero." She scowled at Heero, "If you're going to call me something other than 1402 you'll call me Daine." Heero replied, "Sure thing, Daine, if you open Wing Zero I'll call you whatever you want."  
She was then escorted by Heero to the Wing Zero. Daine smirked as she muttered the access code, "There is no winner in cat and mouse." The door opened as she spoke then she headed off to attend to Hellfire. Daine seemed very out of place, she rarely talked to anyone, only speaking when asked to speak or talked to. After awhile she seemed to ignore all comments, except for Quatre. Quatre was the only person she had talked to freely, he stopped by about twice a day, besides the one's who brought her food and drink, he was her only visitor.  
"Quatre, I'm not a supporter of NORITOS like you think I am," Daine said one day, "I only fight because one day I know I must conquer my mother, I still love her, but she's always hated me." Quatre smiled, "I believe you. Even if no one else does, but why do you think your mother hates you?" Daine shifted, "She never raised me. She pushed me away from the beginning. She was always so paranoid, afraid I'd one day defeat her. Her nightmares will come true, that's why I pilot Hellfire." Quatre looked into her eyes with reassurance, "Whatever you may think I'm sure your mother loves you still. We'll be going into space tomorrow, sorry, but you're coming with us. The others are anxious to meet you."  
  
The next day Daine was cuffed and flanked by two armed guards as she walked along the public shuttle port's hall. Quatre and Heero lingered behind to pay rental fees for the cargo ship. Quatre saw Daine pause to look at something, this was a rare occurrence from her so he took notice. He witnessed the guard push her forward, but she resisted, a swift kick and punch soon silenced such pushing. Daine walked over to the wall to see closer what she had been looking at before. Quatre trotted down to Daine's position, and saw her grab a sheet of paper from a wall. When he got closer he saw clearly what had stopped Daine, it was a poster informing the NORITOS guards that passed that an execution order was in effect for Marieldaine Catalonia, ordered by Dorothy Catalonia.   
Daine sank to her knees, too shocked to even notice Quatre's presence, tears trickled down her face as she muttered, "My own mother, mother wishes me slain.." Quatre knelt down and hugged her shoulders, and soon enough the guards recovered and resumed pushing the traumatized girl to the cargo ship. The Gundams were speedily loaded into the ship, and when Daine was secured the gundams prepped for launch, and before Daine knew it, possibly not caring so, she was in space. Her wrists were still bound from the time she entered the shuttle port, so she simply picked a corner of the small room and sat there, wasting away, and not even caring.   
An hour or so later, Quatre entered the small room, walking over to Daine who seemed to not even acknowledge his existence. "Quatre, why have you come?" she said in a depressing low tone. He sat down beside her, "Do I need a reason, Daine?" She looked up at him, "How long until you turn me over to my mother?" Quatre's expression didn't change, "We don't intend to, Daine. We aren't going to kill you." She looked down at the floor, Quatre felt her heart as it sank, "I'm asking you to go ahead and end it, Quatre."  
She looked up piteously, "Please, Quatre." Quatre stood, "I'm not going to kill you, Daine, why you'd want to die I wouldn't have an idea." Due to her wrists being bound, she stood with moderate difficulty to face Quatre, "I would rather die then stay here and waste away. At the end of this journey you will be with friends, only happiness awaits you at the end of the road, Quatre. Do you know what awaits me? Another cage, with even more tormentors." with that said, she sat down again, and Quatre walked out the door, not locking it, but acting as if he had done so by tapping on the knob a few times.  
He joined Heero at the navigation board. "Heero," Quatre asked, "What're we going to do with Daine?" Heero opened his eyes, "I don't know, we certainly can't let her go." Quatre looked at Heero with concern, "She's stopped eating, Heero, she's suicidal."  
Quatre felt something tap on his shoulder then heard a female voice prying him from behind, "You really should lock the door when you exit." said Daine. Heero looked to Quatre, "You heard the girl, now, go put her back."  
  
Within hours they had docked with the base, the gundams were unloaded first, they made Daine their last order of business. When the time came for Heero to fetch Daine he found her in the same corner as always, checking the bonds on her wrists he walked her out, she stared at the floor as she was led through the base. Heero stopped for a second in front of four males, "Guys, this is Marieldaine Catalonia, Daine for short, she is the daughter of Dorothy Catalonia, she piloted that Hellfire gundam." He then turned to Daine, "Daine, this is Duo Maxwell, Trowa Barton, Wufei Chang, and the last one is Zechs Marquise." She remained silent when they greeted her, merely acknowledging their presence with a nod. "She only seems to talk to Quatre." Heero muttered to the four,  
"He and Daine reached some kind of turning point I guess." Heero led Daine to her new residence, she simply sat in the corner as always, staring at the floor.   
"She is a skinny little thing, Heero." said Duo. "Quatre said she had stopped accepting food, she obviously hasn't slept much by the look of it either." Heero remarked. Quatre had just returned from checking over the Gundams a last time, "She's depressed, Heero, isn't it obvious? She's just wasting away in one prison or another, and Hell, anyone who's mother has just ordered them killed has a right to be depressed." Quatre was obviously very upset, he yelled furiously at Heero, "She's going to kill herself, Heero, don't you even care?" with that said, Quatre stormed out of the room with Trowa at his heels.  
"Calm down, Quatre, I'm sure we can talk to her or do something." Trowa murmured to Quatre. "Trowa, she wants the same thing we do, she wants Dorothy stopped."   
The next day, Trowa accompanied Quatre to deliver Daine's food and drink. As they entered, they saw Daine's thin form crouched in a corner, peering out a small window that allowed her to view the myriad of stars that blazed from all around her, and she sang ominously to no one but herself as tears ran down her face,  
  
"You always said, the stars were forever, even stars can die, no matter how fast you run, love, you will never fly.   
Tell me who I am, tell me why I came here, tell me why the stars have all died.   
Tell me how the cadged bird sings, tell me what tomorrow brings,  
For one star is still alive. "  
Daine turned to find the two had entered the room without her knowing it and quickly wiped her eyes, blushing with total embarrassment she stared at the floor silently. "Daine, are you all right?" she heard Quatre say. "I'm fine, Quatre, just leave me alone." Quatre kneeled in front of her , lifting Daine's bound wrists her withdrew a key from his pocket and unlocked the cuffs that had plagued her for weeks. She rubbed feeling back into her raw wrists then stood, "Quatre, what are you doing?" He smiled, "I just thought you needed to get out of this place for awhile."  
She smirked at Quatre, "Does Heero know about this idea?" Quatre turned, "Not really, but does that matter? I just want you and Hellfire to get a bit of exercise, it's not like we'll be killing each other."   
Daine and Quatre boarded their gundams and proceeded out to space. The other four gundams watched the screens as the two gundams moved into space, they also tuned to their communication radios. Daine signaled Quatre, "Quatre, when system Sorrow Guardian is initiated, I become a different person, understand? When I'm in this suit address me as 1402, that's the only way to get my attention." Quatre nodded, "I'll remember." 1402 initiated Sorrow Guardian, checking her systems a final time before accelerating to a high point and whipping past Quatre in a movement that threatened to tear Sandrock in half. He quickly dodged meeting another blow to his rear barely able to keep up with Hellfire's rapid movements. Sandrock unsheathed it's main weapons, lunging directly at Hellfire, it missed by a hair as Hellfire dropped below him suddenly to come thundering upward from beneath him. Sandrock also moved upward, weapons coming into contact with Hellfire's heat rod. Hellfire withdrew it's weapon and as if out of nowhere a beamsword had appeared in it's hand. The Hellfire bore Sandrock downward as the two clashed. The others could see Hellfire's firm domination of the battle, Sandrock was being kicked into the ground. Heero had appeared behind the four whose eyes stared at the screens. "What's going on here?" They heard Heero say, "And perhaps one of you would tell me what Sandrock and Hellfire doing out there. As Trowa explained the situation to Heero he watched Hellfire's domination of the duel,"1402 is a formidable apponent." Hellfire lunged and jabbed as Sandrock was pushed backward blocking and dodging the blows, they noticed grace as well as effiecency in her fighting, it was like a dance, a dance of death, of destiny. He lunged suddenly forward into Hellfire's shoulder. no real damage, but enough to get Daine agitated enough to go off. She speedily fought the Sandrock thrashing and lunging, until the beamsword was pointed at the neck of Sandrock. She brought the sword back, ready to strike when Quatre called, "Daine--1402, good battle, but I didn't intend to die in it." Hellfire's beamsword stopped within a hairsbreadth of sure death.   
The two gundams were loaded back onto the ship, when she opened the hatch Quatre was already walking over. Taking off the restraints she hopped out of the cockpit, "I didn't hurt you at all did I, Quatre?" He smiled, "Daine, you didn't touch me." He said smartly. She smiled back, "Well, Quatre, if you don't admit that I beat you into the ground I'll touch you, and fair hard too!" she joked. A voice came from behind her, "Hey, Daine," the voice said, it was Heero's voice. Daine turned, smile fading as she averted her gaze to the floor. In Heero's hands were the hand-cuffs. Quatre scowled at Heero silently.  
Daine held out her chapped wrists, expecting to be taken back to the little prison she had lived in. Instead Heero dropped the cuffs, pushing her hands away. She stared at him in puzzlement. "There is no winner in cat and mouse," he murmured, "Fight me." She took a step back, "Heero--" He interrupted, "Fight me." Her expression went cold, "I just need to make few adjustments to Sorrow Guardian," she said, then paused, "By the way Heero, Quatre just helped me a lot more than you think, I've mastered the system."   
After about ten minutes the two gundams were ready for combat. For about five minutes they stood still, then Hellfire shot past heat rod moving at the speed of light as the two raged on, it was a well-matched fight, Heero and Daine, Zero and Hellfire. She parried and dodged as he lunged and jabbed she whipped and fired as he shot like a greased bullet through space. Daine met Heero's beam sword in a powerful clash, pushing Heero down, bearing down on him with all her strength, it wasn't enough. He shoved her to the side then lunged into her with the gundam's shoulder. She drifted for a few seconds then Hellfire took over, with fire in her eyes, she lost control, hammering away violently at Zero, to win to kill to overcome, not even Heero it was her own mother she fought and Heero was going down, down, down as she thrashed and hacked away clashing swords and accelerating beyond her normal reach. She may have gotten as much as ten shots in at that one time, still she drove him down. She dove him until she heard Quatre's voice screaming in her ears, "1402, Daine, whoever! Stop! Stop before Heero is killed!" She withdrew her weapons, panting heavily and too exhausted to even move she called back to Quatre, "I'm sorry, Quatre. I tried to fix Sorrow Guardian so it wouldn't happen. I guess I haven't mastered the system at all. Quatre, one more thing, get someone to tow in Hellfire, I can't move, Quatre.." she trailed off before falling into a deep slumber.  
When Wing Zero and Hellfire were stabilized on the base, they removed both unconscious pilots. They each slept for hours. When Heero awoke Daine was still fast asleep, apparently Quatre had fallen asleep sitting next to her. Heero got up and moved toward the loading area he opened the cockpit to Hellfire, muttering the access code he checked Hellfire's Sorrow Guardian system settings. What was this? All the settings were to their lowest potential. He heard Zechs approach from behind, "That was a great battle, Heero, she's a dangerous person. However, I think I would delight in treating you the same way we've treated her for the last two months, that is, if you do decide to keep locking the poor lass up." Heero shook his head, "From what I just saw in there I'd say she's won her freedom three times over." He looked back to Hellfire, "She is dangerous, I have to find a way to keep her from killing Dorothy or anyone, for that matter." Zechs turned, "That may prove a harder task than you expect, Heero."  
When Daine awoke, the she looked around, and feeling frightfully disoriented she sat up to get a better look. Where was she? How had she gotten here? Minutes later Quatre came in to check on her and found a very confused Daine, "Quatre, what's going on? Why'm I here? You know you should have me locked up." Quatre walked closer, "After you blacked out after fighting Heero we took you in here for you to sleep." She looked at him as if he were mad, "I fought Heero? Nonsense. I only fought you." Now Quatre was confused, "You fought Heero, and you won." She rubbed her forehead, "I won?" Quatre scowled, "Are you trying to fool me? Or don't you remember?" She shook her head, "I see little bits and pieces of it in my memory, but Quatre, I--I just don't know." He shook his head, "You stay here." He walked out of the room. He found Heero sitting with the others, and two newcomers, Sally Po and Lucretzia Noin. "Sally? Miss Noin? When did you two get here?" Sally smiled at Quatre, "I haven't seen you in awhile, Quatre. We just got here a couple minutes ago, we thought we'd come and tell you that Dorothy has just declared war on the Earth, chiefly the Sanc Kingdom, I think she still holds a grudge with Relina. That and the fact that her daughter is nowhere to be found." Heero said in a monotone voice, "Well, that's only because we've got her." Noin looked up at Heero, "You what?" Quatre nodded, "That's what I came to tell Heero about, Daine can't remember a thing, Heero, she doesn't remember the fight you two had at all." Heero's expression still didn't change, "She told you to call her 1402 when she piloted Hellfire, that it was the only way to get her attention. I think the Sorrow Guardian in Hellfire is set to work with 1402, not Daine. Do you understand?" Sally and Miss Noin were in a state of total confusion at this point, "Hellfire? As in the gundam? Surely the pilot isn't Marieldaine Catalonia." Sally remarked. Noin spoke, "What the heck are you guys talking about? 1402? Sorrow Guardian?" Quatre smiled, "1402 is Daine's soldier serial number, the Sorrow Guardian is the system of Hellfire," he looked to Sally, "She is the pilot of Hellfire, Sally, she did it to somehow get back at her mother, I believe." Quatre looked to Heero, "What you said did make sense, Heero, though, I kind of wish it didn't." Quatre turned around, and walked back to Daine's room. He knocked on the door. "It's open." he heard her reply. He entered, she sat with her back to him on the bed, she still wore the same blood-stained NORITOS uniform they captured her in. "There's some more people that are here to meet you." he said. She looked back at him, "Do I really have to, Quatre? I'm still tired, and I've the most awful headache." He sat beside her on the bed, "Would you please at least come out and say hello?" She looked to the floor, then back to Quatre, "I suppose I should, but not for too long." He smiled, "That's fine." She stretched her neck, "Tell them I'll be out in a couple of minutes." Quatre exited the room, shutting the door behind him. He ventured back to the lounge where Miss Noin and Sally were still conversing with the others, chiefly Duo and Trowa. "Marieldaine said she'd visit with you two in a few minutes, she hasn't felt very well since battling Heero." Sally looked to Heero, "You fought Hellfire?" Heero glanced upward, "Twice." Miss Noin said inquisitively, "Well, who won?" Heero's face was hard to read as he peered to the ground, "The first time, I won, that's when we took her captive. This time, though, it's safe to say she kicked me into the ground." Noin and Sally looked at each other. Daine had been standing in the doorway for most of the discussion unnoticed, then Heero sighted her, "You can go ahead and ask Daine if you'd like, she's right there." Daine blushed as she entered, taking a seat next to Quatre. Sally tapped on Heero's shoulder whispering, "That's Marieldaine Catalonia? I thought it was a she." Heero whispered back, "That's her, Sally, we thought she was a guy at first too." Noin stood and walked over to Daine, "It's nice to finally meet you, Miss Marieldaine Catalonia. My name is Lucreitzia Noin." Daine looked up, still blushing slightly, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Noin, though, I'd prefer it if you'd call me 'Daine'." Noin smiled, "Of course, Daine." Sally waved from her position, " Hello, Daine, my name is Sally Po, you can call me Sally." Daine nodded, "It's nice to meet you, Sally." Noin turned to Heero, " Didn't you mention earlier that Zechs was on this base?" Duo answered for Heero, " He was, Lucy, he left for some reason I'm not totally sure of." Sally directed her attention to Daine, "Are there any more gundams that Dorothy has made, Daine?" Daine looked to the floor, "Well, yes and no. Along with the old gundams, three new ones were created, Aura, Torrent, and, of course, Hellfire they were to be the ultra force. Not all of the three were chosen to fight, only Hellfire. The Aura, and Torrent never got off the ground, I guess, their pilots are my two very best friends, Sacherell and Raoul, 1592 and 1841." Heero looked toward Daine with surprise, " Why didn't you tell us that before?" She snickered, " Number one, I don't want Sacherell and Raoul slain, number two, you treated me like garbage, and, at last number three, you never asked!" Daine, stood, obviously very angry, and walked out of the lounge, How dare he!, she thought to herself, He throws me into bondage and expects me to tell him about Aura and Torrent so he can slay Raoul and Sacherell. Not happening! She entered her room,   
shutting the door she instinctively sat in the corner, peering out of a small window into space.Moved down the hall to speak with Daine. As he neared her room, he once again heard her song;  
"You always said the stars were forever, but even stars can die;  
No matter how fast you run, love, you will never fly;  
Tell me who I am, tell me why I came here, tell me why all the stars have died;  
Tell me how the caged bird sings; Tell me what tomorrow brings;  
For one star is still alive."  
  
Quatre opened the door to find her crouched in the corner, crying. He knelt down in front of her and hugged her. She sobbed openly in his arms. He said to her softly, "It's ok now, there's no need to cry any more." She tried to smile as she looked into his soft, kind eyes. He raised his hand to wipe the tears off of her face, "We love you, Daine, I love you." She smiled up at him, and for the first time she found hse loved someone too.  
The reason Sally and Noin were there was to tell them that the NORITOS forces were attacking the Sanc Kingdom. Relena was trying to negotiate a peace with Dorothy, but it was to no avail, it was true that Dorothy was playing a game with Relena, it would prove to be a deadly one in the end. The Sanc Kingdom and NORITOS declared war. The colonies were already at the dispatch of Dorothy Catalonia, now she wished Earth was her own, and she started with the most powerful country in the world. Sally and Noin told them of a huge attack that would occur in two weeks, if the gundams didn't help, then the Sanc Kingdom would almost certainly be lost. The question in everyone's mind was of Daine; would the soldier who had defeated even Heero fight against her own?   
They decided Quatre would deliver the message, he shook his head, "Why me?" Heero looked to the floor, "Quatre, for weeks, the only person she would talk to was you, let's face it, Quatre, who else would do it if you didn't?" The others merely nodded. "Fine," he said, "I'll tell her right now."   
He proceeded to her quarters and found her napping on her bed. For a moment he stood there, observing the still figure, her chest rising and falling rhythmically, her innocent face. He shook his head and walked over to her, sitting on the bed, one hand stroked her dark blonde locks as he whispered, "It's time to wake up, Daine." in her ear. She stirred and opened her eyes, "Quatre? What are you doing?" He looked away from her, "I've come to ask you if you'll come with me, Daine." She nodded, "Sure, Quatre, I'll go with you, anywhere." He looked to the floor, "It's not that simple, Daine, we're going to Earth, we're going to fight your mother, possibly others you may know." She looked downward, then gazed into the depths Quatre's dark eyes, "I'll go with, you, Quatre, and I will fight with you all the same." He wrapped his arms around her, hugging her closely, "I thank you, Daine, we need you. We'll be leaving tomorrow, I suggest you get Hellfire ready aswell." With a final hug, he stood and left the room. The others waited anxiously in the other room for Quatre's return, even to Heero, the experience was nerve wracking. Quatre entered the room with a smile, "She's in." While Duo and Trowa exchanged money the rest of the crew breathed a sigh of relief, there was hope.   
  
The gundam team was ready for launch, the cargo ship had been totally loaded and ready to go, they soon after blasted off, destined for Earth. The ride took longer than usual, they had a two day delay when an engine blew out, Earth was near. Within hours of the engine's repair finished, the cargo ship landed in the Sanc Kingdom, carrying with it the hopes of the future.   
Relina had been waiting for them an hour before they landed, she watched the sky with hope. All of a sudden she saw a spark in the heavens, it was the cargo shuttle, it made a swift landing and the gundams were unloaded immediately. Heero was first to come out, he was embraced on sight by a very happy Relina as the rest stifled their laughter. Daine was last of the pilots to leave. She kept her eyes to the ground, and was quiet and close enough to Quatre to be his own shadow, or so she would have hoped. Again, however, she had to face another strange person she had to meet. "Hello, so, you are Marieldaine Catalonia. My name is Relina Dorland." Daine glanced up at Relina maybe once, but then quickly looked back to the ground, "Hello Miss Relina, it's nice to meet you, but I'd prefer it if you'd just call me 'Daine'." Relina smiled, "Of course, Daine, whatever you want." Daine proceeded to follow Quatre as usual, like a looming shadow.   
  
The days passed quickly, they were days of strenuous training for the gundams. They prepared for the battle that may end their lives. Before they knew it that day was nigh. There they were, front and center of legions of Leo suits and Taurus's. Hellfire was behind the main group of gundams. Daine fidgeted nervously. She started picking up the mobile doll carriers on her screens. The carriers were soon in sight, dropping mobile dolls in the thousands. The rest of the gundams went to work thrashing their way through the ranks, she scoured her screens for the big mobile suits, one of them would hold her mother. There were three. Three mobile suits, one would hold her mother. She raced through the myriad of mobile doll soldiers, bring an end to all that got in her way as the Hellfire did what it did best, unleash Hell. Quatre called to her, "1402, what're you doing, wait for us!" She answered, "Quatre, I must do this alone." She continued to thrash her way through the ranks of lifeless mobile dolls, the Hellfire wove and struck leaving a wave of destruction in it's path. She saw the three mobile suits. Among them, Aura and Tourent. She stopped dead in her tracks. She knew what she had to do. She made an effort to move toward her mother's mobile suit, doubtlessly the one in the center. As she went, Aura and Tourent moved not with her, but soon she saw Tourent's beam spear at her throat she stopped, a sound came to her from the radio, "Hellfire, return to me." the voice said, it was her mother. "Never, mother!" she yelled in reply. Dorothy stared in shock at the screen, it was her daughter. Other voices came through the radio, " 1402, we place you under arrest for high treason against her Majesty Dorothy Catalonia." it was Raoul. "Raoul, Sacherell, friends, it's me, help me, brothers!" she cried in desperation. She heard Dorothy shout, "Kill the runt! Aura, Tourent, don't just stand around, get her!" They nodded. Hellfire drew it's beam sword, gripping tightly it's heat rod. She drew backward, then downward, straight to the ground and pulling upward again at the last possible moment. She initiated Sorrow Guardian. Her mind raced whipping, striking dodging, and fleeing she fought her own best friends. She darted straight past them both at a try to get a Dorothy, only to find Aura landing straight in her path. She flew upward, and unleashed her beam sword. Sacherell had always been great with a beam sword. Hellfire moved like lightning, clashing against Aura wasn't easy. He was there to block every lunge, there to threaten her life with every strike. All of a sudden while Aura was in mid-swing she cut her engines, dropping from the skies like a rock. She then turned back on her thrusters, quickly, she steered toward Quatre, and Heero, pleading for them to help her over the radio. They neglected their attackers, coming to Daine's rescue as Aura pushed down on her. "Sacherell," She yelled to him, "I am not your enemy!" She threw down her beam sword then hovered in the air as Sacherell held her in a death grip. "Are you with us, 1402?" Sacherell said. Daine called back over the radio, "You should know by now, Sacherell, my name is Daine." Sacherell laughed, "It just seems so natural." She smiled at her old friend. "Are you with us?" he asked again, releasing Hellfire. "Sacherell, friend, I'm always with you, except when you follow my mother. I won't fight you any longer Sacherell. You or Raoul." she said, "Join me, we will fight for freedom, on Earth and space, there are great people fighting today, Sacherell. Look behind me, Sandrock and Wing Zero, piloted by Heero Yuy and Quatre Winner. Join me Sacherell, we will end this bloodshed." Sacherell nodded. Aura bowed to Hellfire, a sign of yielding. Hellfire, Sandrock, Wing Zero, and their new friend, Aura battled their way back up to Dorothy. The others were rapidly joining them. They then charged the rest of the way, laying waste to the Taurus mobile dolls in their path. Aura and Tourent were now their allies. Dorothy fled the battlefield, the other gundams were fighting the dolls, Hellfire saw Dorothy's disappearance, she ordered the other gundams to stay as she, Tourent, and Aura chased Dorothy to a tall rockface, where behind her stood four fresh legions of troops. She radioed the others to stay back, the three knew what they had to do. The other gundams neared the ridge. "You know what we have to do. We must repay the universe for those we have killed." Daine told her friends. "Go courageously, for the pearl gates of heaven await us at the end, old friends." The gundams threw down their weapons. "Quatre," called Daine, "I just want you to know, I love you, I love you with all my heart, Quatre. Thank you, for making my last days happy." Daine smiled. "What are you saying, Daine?" Quatre uttered frantically. She smiled again, "I'm saying good-bye, Quatre." The three gundams advanced. With nowhere to turn, no weapons to defend themselves with, the three gundams bowed to each other one last time. The three smiled, their hands gripped their detonation switches. Their faces gleamed with pride, the great army charged, and the three flicked the switches that would sacrifice their lives for the survival of the Earth and colonies. The three gundams shimmered with red, then, as Quatre gazed, exploded. The entire army was destroyed by the blast, along with Daine and her two companions. They were gone. Quatre's heart shattered. The heavy hearted five proceeded back to the Sanc Kingdom, without their brave comrades, Daine, Sacherell, and Raoul.   
  
All of the gundams were placed kneeling in front a large monument to Daine and her two friends. That day was made an international holiday, that honored the brave three. Today, Trowa approached Quatre who left flowers, every day at the site, and every time, he'd sing to her, the same song;   
"You always said, the stars were forever, even stars can die, no matter how fast you run, love, you will never fly.   
Tell me who I am, tell me why I came here, tell me why the stars have all died.   
Tell me how the cadged bird sings, tell me what tomorrow brings,  
For one star is still alive. "  
  
Trowa, came behind Quatre. He smiled. "You loved her Quatre, and she loved you. No one could have made her last days better than you had." Quatre patted the monument, "Trowa, I understand. I've moped about here long enough. It's time for me to say good-bye too." He then turned, and walked off with Trowa.   
  
Ever since the sacrifice of the three brave gundam pilots, the world was safe, peace reigned forevermore as people continue to gaze in awe at the monument to the Great Marieldaine Catalonia, Raoul Arram, and Sacherell Naxen, who died, to save our world.   
  
  
PREVIEW OF NEXT EPISODE  
  
After the death of Daine the Earth and colonies lived in peace.  
Now, on the first anniversary of Daine's death, people learn something   
that will shock the nation, and most llikely make Quatre really happy!  
  



End file.
